


Wake Up

by juliathephantom (knitsessed)



Series: Soulmate AUs [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Actor Luke, Bi Carrie, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hannah Montana References, Jukebox, Julie Molina has anxiety, Lesbian Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke Patterson Loves Julie Molina, Luke has Robert Pattinson in twilight levels of hatred for the roles he's played, Luke's show is basically Hannah Montana but genderswapped, M/M, Multiple original characters - Freeform, Panic Attack, Sibling energy, Soulmate AU, but he doesn't always show it in the best of ways, disney channel actor Luke, dogs bring people together, jatp did not give us enough characters to make elaborate aus, juke, julie has anxiety, let luke be a rockstar, luke adopts a puppy for julie without asking her if she wants him to, luke is also edward cullen from twilight, luke just wants to be a rockstar, luke makes poor decisions, momager!emily, nugget the dog, waking up in each other's beds, waking up in each other's beds soulmate au, yes i did already write a fic with this ship and concept
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:02:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitsessed/pseuds/juliathephantom
Summary: I already wrote a Jukebox fic with this prompt but I wanted to do it again, so...Soulmates wake up in each other's beds. Julie and Luke are soulmates. Luke is a former Disney Channel Star (and hates it).
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s), Reggie Peters/ Alina (OC)
Series: Soulmate AUs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188602
Comments: 122
Kudos: 146





	1. Wake Up

The morning of May 4th, 2020 would live rent-free in Luke Patterson’s mind for the rest of his life. Nearly a year and four months after his birthday, it finally happened. He’d woken up in a bed other than his own, arm wrapped around the slight form of a girl. He’s lying flat on his back, the girl curled up against his side, her head resting on his chest.

Luke lifts his head slightly, trying to get a good look at her without waking her up. The first thing he notices about her is that her hair is dark and curly, forming a cloud around her head. She shifts slightly in her sleep and he’s able to get a better look at her face. His breath stops. She’s  _ gorgeous _ . Her light brown skin looks soft and he wants to touch her face, but he also doesn’t want to wake her up. She looks so peaceful as she sleeps.

He turns his attention, then, to the room he’s in, searching for clues about who his soulmate is. The room is bright and busy, with mounds of pillows and abundant decorations. Luke grins when he realizes that his soulmate has used old CDs and Records, painted primarily a metallic teal, to form music notes on her wall.  _ She’s musical _ , Luke thinks happily.

A soft knock on the door startles Luke out of his thoughts. The door cracks open slightly and a man, probably in his forties, sticks his head in. His eyes widen when he sees Luke.

“Is she awake?” the man whispers. 

Luke looks down to check. “No,” he replies, softly. “Does she need to be?”

The man in the doorway nods. “She has school.”

Apparently, they hadn’t been quiet enough, because the girl in Luke’s arms shifts. She stretches lightly, eyes fluttering open. Luke, and the man that Luke has been assuming is her dad, watch as she realizes she’s not alone. She lifts her head to look at Luke.

“Hi,” Luke says, not sure what, exactly, one says when they wake up with their soulmate for the first time.

The man in the doorway snorts. “‘Hi?’ That’s the best you can do?”

Luke’s soulmate lifts her hand from where it’s resting on Luke’s chest and waves the man away. “Papí,  _ goodbye _ .”

“Okay, mija, I can see when I’m not wanted. Make sure you get up in time to get ready for school.”

“I will.” The girl huffs. “You’re still here, aren’t you? Go away. We’ll come talk to you later, okay?”

The girl’s dad chuckles then shuts the door and as they hear his footsteps walk away, Luke smiles. “I’m Luke.”

“Julie.”

Luke is about to say something when he’s interrupted by his phone ringing in his pajama pocket. He carefully wiggles it free, then glances at the screen.

“Ugh.”

“Is everything okay?” Julie asks.

“It’s my mom. I apologize in advance for this,” Luke sighs, accepting the call.

**“Luke, where are you? Did you sneak out again? Get home right now!”** A woman’s voice is yelling into the phone.

Julie plucks the phone from Luke’s hand and interrupts the tirade. “Hi, um, Mrs. Patterson? Yeah, uh, Luke didn’t sneak out. It’s my birthday today and-”

The woman over the phone squeals.  **“Wait, are you his soulmate? What’s your name, honey?”**

“I’m Julie. Julie Molina.”

**“Hi, Julie. I’m Emily Patterson. Happy birthday, honey. Oh, I’m so pleased that Luke finally found his soulmate! Where do you live?”**

“Los Feliz.”

**“Oh, wonderful! That’s not too far from us. When you leave for school, can you make sure Luke comes home, honey? He has a bunch of meetings today.”**

“Of course, Mrs. Patterson. He can borrow my car.”

**“Oh, honey, call me Emily. You’re family, now, after all. Anyway, I can send a car for him if you can give me your address? No need to put you out.”**

“It’s no problem, Emily. My best friend drives me to school, so I honestly barely use my car. I only have it because it was my mom’s and my dad figured we might as well keep it in case I need to go somewhere and he can’t drive me. Anyway, I have to go start getting ready for school, so I’ll let you go.”

**“Nice talking to you, Julie. Have a good day.”**

Luke is staring at Julie, jaw agape. “How the hell did you get her to stop yelling?” Julie shrugs, so Luke asks his next question. “I take it you know who I am, then?”

“Yeah, my friend Carrie had a huge crush on you when you were on Disney. I think I’ve seen literally everything you’ve been in.” Julie sighs. “Your mom seems like a piece of work.”

Luke bursts out laughing. “You’ve got that right.”

Julie enjoys the feeling of his chest vibrating under her cheek. “You know, if you want to not have to deal with her as much, I’m sure Papí would be happy to refuse to let me move out. Then you’d have to move in with me and you’d get some space.”

Luke grins. “That sounds incredible.”

Julie smiles back. “Then it’s a plan. As much as I hate to, though, I do have to get up now. I’m gonna be late for school if I don’t.”

Julie climbs out of bed and starts digging through her dresser. Luke sits up in bed, leaning against the headboard. He watches as she selects two tops, then turns to face him, holding them up to herself one at a time. “Which one?”

Luke rolls his eyes. “Are you seriously asking me? I have professional stylists for a reason, Jules.” He smirks then. “You’ll look beautiful in either, though. You’d look beautiful in anything.”

Julie bites her lip, debating. She looks between the gray sweater and the white tee and then folds them both back up, returning them to the drawer. Instead, she drags a vintage trunk out from her closet, opening it up.

“You okay?” Luke asks when Julie just stares at the contents of the trunk for a minute.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. These were my mom’s clothes.” 

Julie starts riffling through them, finally selecting a mesh, tie-dye shirt. She sets it on the bed, before shutting the trunk and dragging it in front of the loveseat in the corner. She returns to the dresser, then, digging out a black tank top, some athletic pants, and- Luke looks away- undergarments. Scooping up the mesh shirt, she starts to leave the room. 

“Oh, you can stay here if you want, or you can go downstairs. My dad’s probably in the kitchen. He’ll have coffee if you want any.”

“Go talk to you dad? Alone? No, thanks. I’ll wait here.”

Julie waves, heading out of her room. She returns, dressed, with her hair braided off her face, sparkly clips holding the strands in place. The majority of her hair is still loose around her head and Luke gapes at her.

“What? Do I look stupid?”

Luke shakes his head. “No, uh, you look incredible.”

“Thanks,” Julie says, tugging on a pair of socks and then white sneakers. “You ready to go downstairs?”

Luke sighs, getting out of bed. “Not really but I’m not sure I have a choice.”

“Well, you could stay here, but you’d eventually have to come out and then I wouldn’t be here to act as a buffer, so it’s really up to you.”

Luke follows Julie out of the room and down the stairs. He’s thrilled that Mr. Molina isn’t in the kitchen. Luke leans against the counter as he watches Julie grab a Poptart from the box in the cabinet, then fish a set of keys out of a drawer. He catches the keys when Julie tosses them, following her outside. They sit on the front steps, Julie handing him one of the Poptarts from the sleeve.

“Oh, hey, fair warning,” Julie says. “One of the friends that’s picking me up is Carrie.”

“And?”

“Carrie has, or, at least, had a huge crush on you.”

Luke cringes. “Is she gonna be weird?”

Julie contemplates that. “I mean, her dad’s Trevor Wilson, so she’s not gonna be ‘you’re famous’ weird, but she might be a little ‘you’re hot’ weird.”

A bright pink Volkswagen Bug pulls into the driveway.

“Is that Carrie’s car?”

Julie laughs at the horror in Luke’s voice. “Yup. The car you’re using is the one parked in the street. The blue one, there.” Julie points. “I’m gonna go. Hopefully, they don’t notice you until-”

Julie is cut off by a blonde girl in pink climbing out of the car and rushing over. “Julie, is this your soulmate?”

Julie rolls her eyes. “Carrie, this is Luke. Luke, meet Carrie. Your biggest fan.”

Carrie gasps. “Wait, you’re...”

Another girl arrives, having followed Carrie from the car. “Hey, Carebear. Deep breathes. Remember how your dad feels when he meets fans? Do you really want to be that person?” The girl flips her box braids over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go. We’ve got school. Julie, you coming?”

The second girl, who Julie identifies as Flynn, leads Carrie back to the car. Julie turns to Luke.

“I gotta go. Bye.” She impulsively hugs Luke, then slings her backpack over her shoulder, following the other girls to the car.


	2. Friends

Flynn ends up being forced to drive so that Carrie can sit in the back with Julie and gush. 

“Oh, my god, Julie, your soulmate!” Carrie squeals.

Flynn rolls her eyes, though neither of the other girls can see it. “Um, Care,  _ your _ soulmate is right here. Do I need to be jealous?”

“You know I love you, Flynnie.” Carrie reaches forward to pat Flynn’s shoulder. “You’re my soulmate. I’ll always pick you.”

“Good,” Julie huffs. “I’m not giving you mine, so...”

“He’s so cute, though, Julie! And he’s famous and an actor!”

“You are correct,” Julie deadpans. “It sounds like it might be more hassle than it’s worth, though.”

“What do you mean?” Flynn asks.

“His mom called him this morning to yell at him about not being home. Something about having meetings to attend? And he’s moving in with me to get away from her.”

“Wait, he’s moving in with you? Doesn’t he have, like, a huge mansion?” Flynn has to ask this because Carrie is too busy gaping at Julie.

“Maybe? I don’t know. He was worried about meeting you, Carrie, because I told him you were a fan. You should know, given your dad, but it seems like being famous can be kind of unpleasant.”

Julie’s phone buzzes, then, and she frowns at the screen. It’s a text from a number she doesn’t recognize. She clicks on it.  **Hey, Julie. It’s Luke, your dad gave me your number.**

Julie chuckles, responding with  **You spoke to him without me? So brave.**

Luke’s response of  **ha** has Julie grinning. Another text pops up.  **Are you in class yet?**

Julie sends him  **no** and then her phone is ringing.

“Hey, Luke. Is everything okay?” She asks.

**“You cool if I acknowledge you on social?”**

“Define ‘acknowledge me on social?’”

**“Probably just, like, an Insta post of a picture of you, something about ‘happy birthday.’ Just letting people know that I’m taken.”**

“Are you taken? I don’t recall you asking me out.” 

Carrie gasps. She can only hear Julie’s side of the conversation, but it sounds exciting.

**“Julie Molina, will you be my girlfriend?”** Luke’s dramatic tone has Julie picturing them in Victorian clothes, Luke kissing her hand before asking her to court him.

“Sure, Luke. I’ll send you a picture.”

**“Excellent!”** Julie can hear the grin in his voice.  **“I’ll let you go, you probably have to get to class.”**

Julie, noticing that the car has parked at the school, agrees. “Bye, Luke.” She hangs up the phone, then turns to her friends. “I need the best picture of me we can get.”

“Why?” Flynn asks.

“Luke wants to post a picture on Insta to tell people he’s taken.”

Carrie literally shrieks in excitement. “Did he ask you out?”

“Yeah,” Julie confirms. “And I need a really good picture.”

Carrie snatches Julie’s phone from her hands, scrolling through her photos. “This one,” she decides.

Flynn agrees, so Julie sends it to Luke, along with her Instagram handle, @thejuliemolina. As they head into school, her phone vibrates with a notification. Julie has been tagged in a post by @lukepattersonofficial. It’s the photo she’d sent him, the caption ‘Happy birthday, Jules,’ and the first tag is #soulmates.

Julie takes her seat between Carrie and Flynn and can immediately tell who in the class has seen Luke’s post. Kayla, one of Carrie’s backup dancers and Luke’s self-proclaimed ‘Biggest Fan Ever’ tries to get Julie’s attention.

“Julie, is this real?” she asks, holding up her phone with the post.

“Well, we can all see it, so it’s either real or a mass hallucination.” Julie rolls her eyes. “If you’re asking if I’m Luke’s soulmate, the answer is yes.”

“Ohmygod!” Kayla squeals. “Can I meet him?”

Julie is saved from having to answer that by Mrs. Harrison starting the class. When the class splits into pairs to complete a music theory packet, Julie is grateful that Carrie immediately partners with Kayla, allowing Julie to work with Flynn. Normally, being soulmates, Flynn and Carrie try to work together, but they’re ride-or-die friends and won’t let her get interrogated against her will.

Julie spends the whole day dodging questions and is relieved to reach the end of the day. She leaves the building with Carrie and Flynn by her side and is shocked to see her mom’s car waiting out front, Luke leaning against the door. He waves when he sees her, so Julie says goodbye to her girls and goes to meet him.

“Hey, Luke. You’re picking me up?” Luke nods.

“Yeah, I wanted to see you.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“Well, I missed you,” Luke says with a pout. “You weren’t very responsive when I texted you.”

“You do know that most high schools don’t allow people to be on their phones in class, right?” Julie’s not expecting this to be new information, but Luke is genuinely surprised by this.

Luke’s eyes widen. “You’re not allowed to use your phone?”

“Have you ever been to a high school?” Julie asks.

Luke rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’ve been on the set of a high school if that counts?”

“You- really? You never went to high school?” They climb into the car and Luke starts driving.

“I mean, I have a degree! I took online classes while filming Best of Both Worlds.” Luke sighs. “The closest I ever got to a graduation ceremony was Charlie’s.”

“Charlie’s? Like, your character? You never even went to, like, a friend’s?”

Luke shakes his head. “Most of my friends are actors, too, and Alex and Reggie graduated when I was filming on-location in Vancouver.”

“...Alex and Reggie?”

“Oh, man, you’ve gotta meet them. Alex and Reggie are the best. We’ve been friends since kindergarten." Luke makes a somewhat unsafe U-turn and starts driving back the way they came.

“Where are we going?”

“To meet Alex and Reggie.”

“Should you call and let them know we’re on our way over?”

Luke chuckles. “We’re not going to their house, Jules. We’re going to the Beanery. They should both be working today.”

“So we’re basically ambushing them at their job to... what, exactly?”

“To introduce my two best friends to the person who’s probably going to outrank them eventually.”

“You think I’m going to outrank your two best friends since kindergarten?”

“Absolutely. I mean, I bet they’d say their soulmates outrank me.” Luke rethinks that. “Actually, maybe not, considering I own their house and don’t make them pay rent.”

“...Why do you own their house?”

“Because Alex needed a place to stay after his parents kicked him out and Reggie needed to get away from abusive parents and neither of them could afford to put down a security deposit on a place in LA and they’re my best friends so I bought them a house. It’s not like I don’t have the money.”

“That’s really sweet, Luke.”

Luke parks the car in the parking structure down the street from their destination. He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a pair of sunglasses. He slides those on and grabs a hoodie from the backseat, which he wears with the hood up. 

Julie chuckles. “Trying to stay incognito?”

“For you. I don’t want you to have to deal with me getting mobbed the first time we’re in public together.”

“How likely is that?” 

Luke just grimaces in response, getting out of the car. He walks around to Julie’s side to open her door for her and offers her his hand.

“You don’t have to-” Luke starts.

Julie cuts Luke off by taking his hand. He leads her down the street to a cozy cafe. Walking inside, Luke pushes the hood off of his head and takes off the sunglasses, tucking them in the pocket of the hoodie.

“No incognito here?”

“Nah, if anyone tries anything, the guys’ll ban them before they can even get within five feet of me.” Luke guides Julie up to the register.

The blond guy working the register looks up. “Luke! Hey, man. What’s up?” He then notices Julie and Luke’s linked hands and yells, “Reginald! We have an urgent situation!”

A brunet guy rocking a leather jacket/apron combo comes rushing out from the back, drying his hands on a rag. “Alex, what’s up?”

The blond guy, apparently Alex, gestures at Julie and Luke. “Luke’s here. Holding hands with a girl.”

Reginald’s jaw drops. “Luke, explain.”

Luke laughs. “Reggie, Alex, this is Julie. Julie, this is Reggie and Alex.”

Alex sighs. “And who is Julie?”

“My soulmate.” Julie squeezes Luke’s hand, enjoying being called his soulmate. It feels... special. “Can we get some drinks? I’ll have the usual. What do you want, Jules?”

Julie contemplates the menu. “Peppermint hot chocolate? With whip, of course.”

Alex and Reggie don’t move. “Luke, you cannot just show up here with your soulmate that we didn’t know you’d met and just casually order drinks.” Alex sighs again. “Okay, so. First question. Today’s your birthday, right, Julie? Or has Luke just conveniently forgotten to mention you?”

Julie chuckles. “No, it’s my birthday.”

“Happy birthday!” Reggie says excitedly. “Any plans?”

Julie shrugs. “Cake?”

“What kind?”

“Reg, that’s not important right now. We need to assess whether we approve of Julie and-”

“And knowing what kind of birthday cake she likes says a lot about her as a person!” Reggie retorts.

“Vanilla cake with chocolate chips, fudgy chocolate frosting and ice cream sundae caramel drizzled on top. Oh, and a massive amount of sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. I call it sundae cake and it’s literally the best thing on this planet.”

Reggie looks at Alex. Alex looks at Reggie. They both turn to look at Julie for a moment before turning to Luke. 

“We approve,” Alex declares.

“I mean, the universe already decided that Julie’s good enough for me, but thanks?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never made a cake like what I described for Julie's birthday cake, but now I REALLY want to.


	3. The Media

When they return to the Molinas’ for dinner and cake, there’s another person for Luke to meet.

“Luke, this is my little brother, Carlos.”

The little boy glares at Luke. “So you’re the one that’s going to be stealing Julie?”

Luke’s eyes widen. “I’m not stealing her. We’re soulmates, that’s all.”

“But she’s gonna leave, right? You guys have to live together and you’ve got an awesome mansion so why would you move in here?”

“Hey, no, Carlos, I’m not leaving you. Even if I were moving in with Luke, which I’m not, you’ll always be my brother, okay? I’ll always have time for you.” Julie tries to sooth her brother and his expression settles, so she feels like she’s done okay.

“You’re not moving in with Luke?” Ray asks.

“Oh, we wanted to talk to you about that, Papí. Luke’s mom is... difficult, so we were hoping you’d refuse to let me move out (or at least pretend to) so that he can have some space?”

Ray looks amused. “Sure, mija. Just don’t make me see or hear anything, okay?”

Julie blushes. “Papí...” she whines. 

The doorbell rings, then, making the Molinas jump. 

“We have a doorbell?” Carlos asks no one in particular.

Julie goes to open the door and Luke follows her, standing just out of sight of anyone on the other side. Two men are standing there, one holding a video camera up, the other holding a microphone.

“Julie Molina?” Microphone man asks.

“Yes? I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Caleb Covington,  _ E! News. _ Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I just have a few questions for you tonight. Can I come in?”

Luke’s there, then, pulling Julie away from the door and shutting it in Covington’s face, snarling, “Leave Julie alone!”

“What just happened?” Julie asks. 

The doorbell rings again. Julie moves to open it, but Luke grabs her wrist. He clicks the lock into place and fastens the security chain.

“I can’t stop you, but I’d prefer if you didn’t talk to reporters, especially not Caleb Covington.”

“Miss Molina?” Caleb calls through the door. “I don’t mean any harm, I’d just like to ask you a few questions about your relationship to Luke Patterson.”

“Luke? What’s going on?” Julie asks, sounding worried now.

“Caleb Covington is a ruthless reporter who twists people’s words to make headlines.” Julie still looks confused, so Luke sighs. “Okay, so did you ever read the Harry Potter series?”

“Yeah?”

“Covington is the Rita Skeeter to my Harry Potter.” Julie’s lips part in shock. “He’s been trying to ruin my career and my life basically since I beat out his nephew Dante for the lead in Best of Both Worlds.”

“So Caleb is here to...”

“To try and get you to tell him everything you know about me. He’ll then publish an exaggerated but still technically truthful exposé about us and we’ll both come out looking like crap. Then my mom will get on my case about my image and I’ll have even less of a chance of getting out of acting and into music.” Luke sighs. “Dating me isn’t going to be easy, boss. Should I apologize?”

“You don’t have to apologize for being you, Luke. Do you want to go distract ourselves? We can have my birthday cake?”

Luke grins, holding out his hand for Julie. They return to the kitchen where Ray is pacing nervously.

“Mija, is everything okay? I heard yelling.”

Julie looks to Luke for an answer. He smiles weakly.

“Mr. Molina-”

“Ray.”

“Ray, I don’t know if you recognize me, but I’m an actor. A pretty famous one, at that. I played Charlie and Luke on Disney’s Best of Both Worlds and being famous leads to unpleasant things happening, like the past few minutes. The guy at the door is a reporter who has repeatedly tried to make my life miserable. He was here to talk to Julie because he was hoping she’d tell him something he could make into a scandal. I’d prefer it if you guys wouldn’t talk about me to strangers or reporters. It won’t end well.”

“Julie, did you recognize Luke?” Ray’s first question triggers a snort of disbelief from his daughter.

“Yeah, of course. Carrie’s a huge fan.”

“Have I seen any of his stuff?” Ray asks next.

“Um, you might have caught snippets of Best of Both Worlds? Oh, he was in that movie... oh, what was it called? The one where he played a vampire? It was all anyone could talk about for a while.”

“Twilight,” Luke says with a groan. “I was Edward Cullen from Twilight and it was utterly miserable. I’m so sick of random tween girls having crushes on me.”

Julie laughs. “Then maybe you should stop being all...” She gestures broadly at him.

“You just gestured at all of me!” Luke protests.

“I know,” she says with a wink. “Anyway, Papí, can we do cake now?”

Ray grins. “If you want. Go sit down at the table, I’ll bring it in.”

Julie drags Luke over to the table and pulls the chair that had been her mom’s around next to hers. They sit and wait patiently while Ray lights the candles and Carlos retrieves plates, forks, the ice cream that it’s served with, and a scoop. When Ray brings the cake in and sets it down in front of Julie, Luke’s jaw drops.

“That’s one hell of a cake.”

The cake in question is a round layer cake, but it’s easily four layers tall. It’s got whipped cream peaks in a ring around the edge, each peak topped with a maraschino cherry. The center has a heart made of assorted purple sprinkles on top of a drizzle of caramel sauce. The eighteen candles on it reflect off of the sparkly sprinkles and it looks delicious.

Ray starts them off in singing Happy Birthday, then Julie closes her eyes, making a wish. With one big breath, she blows out all of the candles at once. Ray takes back the cake and cuts thick slices. He adds scoops of vanilla bean ice cream (the good stuff from the local place down by the pier) on the plates. Julie gets the first slice, of course, but Luke gets the second. Once Julie has taken a bite of the cake, Luke is able to try it and he groans in delight.

“This is the best cake I’ve ever had.”

“Right?” Julie agrees between bites. “There’s a reason we all ask for this one every year. It’s amazing.”

“Well, thank you.”

“Wait, you made this?” Luke asks, looking at Ray in shock.

“Yeah. I’m not much of a cook, but I can bake like a champ.”


	4. Nugget the Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke's bad decision-making skills are demonstrated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a picture of the dog I see as Nugget on my tumblr @knitsessed. check it out and if you wanna chat you can always shoot me a message or an ask.

Waking up with Julie curled up in his arms for the fifth time feels just as special as every time before. It’s Friday now, and Luke is determined to take Julie out that evening. He’s been impatiently waiting for a day where she won’t have school the next day because, cool as Ray is, he still insists that her education comes first. This means, unfortunately, that Julie has a curfew on weeknights that can only be broken for super special occasions (or if she gets her homework done early, but this week she’s had a ton of work to do).

When Julie gets back from getting dressed in the bathroom, Luke interrupts her while she’s packing up her backpack.

“Hey, Jules, I had a question for you.” Julie looks up from the textbook she’s trying to shove into her bag. “Will you go on a date with me? Tonight?”

Julie’s face lights up. “I’d love to!” She abandons the bag and school supplies to come hug Luke. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Julie frowns. “Well, that doesn’t work. I need to know where we’re going so I know what to wear!”

Luke contemplates this. “Wear something casual and comfortable that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Does that help?” 

“Is what I’m wearing now okay?” Luke assesses the light blue t-shirt with a pale pink graphic, paired with teal jeans.

“Perfect.”

“Okay, fine, it can be a surprise.” Julie returns to shoving her school supplies into her bag. “Can you pass me my laptop?”

Luke grabs it off of Julie’s desk and brings it over. It joins the textbooks, notebooks, binders, and folders making the backpack bulge. “Do you need the charger, too?”

Julie shakes her head. “Nah, Carrie always has one. She’s got this bin in her locker that has basically anything we might forget. Chargers, hair ties, pens, pencils, highlighters, sandpaper, a stapler... She’s like a boy scout. Always prepared.”

“That’s super cool. Wait, why does she have sandpaper?” 

“You never know when you might need some.”

“... Have you guys needed it?”

“Yup.” Julie grins. “I’m not telling you why, though.”

Luke waits patiently while Julie finishes packing her bag, then follows her downstairs. “Would you be okay with me picking you up from school for our date?”

Julie grins at Luke. “Sure.” 

She grabs a Pop-Tart from the cabinet, refills her water bottle with water from the filter in the fridge, and heads out to the porch to wait for Carrie and Flynn. Luke sits next to Julie on the steps and smiles when she leans her head against his shoulder.

When Carrie and Flynn arrive, Julie hugs Luke, then swings her backpack over her shoulder. “See you after school.”

“See ya, boss!”

In the car, Julie taps Carrie on the shoulder. “Luke’s picking me up after school, so don’t wait for me, okay?”

Carrie turns around in the seat to stare at Julie, eyebrow raised. “And why is Luke picking you up?”

Julie flushes. “We’re going on our first date tonight.”

Carrie squeals. “Where?”

“He won’t tell me. It’s a _surprise.”_

Flynn groans. “A surprise? How are you supposed to know what to wear?”

“I’m wearing this,” Julie informs them. “He said something casual and comfortable that I wouldn’t mind getting dirty, so...”

They spend the car ride and then every spare moment throughout the school day speculating on Luke’s plans. Julie promises to call them and gush Saturday morning at the latest, preferably that night, if it’s not too late.

Julie waves goodbye to her friends as she approaches Luke’s car. He’d stopped using her mom’s car after the first day, preferring the Subaru he was used to. She climbs in, sitting shotgun next to Luke. He leans over the gear shift to give her a quick hug.

“You ready, boss?”

Julie nods. “I’m dying to know where we’re going.”

Luke just grins, handing Julie the AUX cord so that she can plug in her phone and play some music. As Julie is getting the music started, Luke starts driving.

Julie watches out the window, hoping for some hint of their destination. Eventually, Luke pulls into the lot for a small strip of stores. Julie’s brow furrows. There’s a couple of random stores that sell things like light bulbs and shoes and... not much else. Luke grabs her hand and leads her around the side of the building. Behind the small strip mall, there is what appears to be an old house. Luke opens the front door, revealing a colorful cafe.

“Peppermint hot chocolate?” Luke asks Julie.

She nods, still somewhat confused. Luke orders their drinks and also ‘two for two hours,’ whatever that means. Once the drinks are ready, Luke picks them up, indicating another door. Julie opens it and sees a tiny room. Luke follows her in, kicking the door they’ve just entered through shut, then instructs her to open the door on the other side. Julie does and squeals with delight.

“Puppies!”

Luke grins at her. “I thought you’d like this. It’s a dog cafe run by a local animal shelter. Basically, this place’s job is to let the dogs get socialized and meet potential adopters. It also raises money for the shelter.”

Julie’s only half-listening, though, both hands busy petting the dogs jumping on her legs. Luke sets their drinks down on the bar along the edge of the room. They sit down on pillows on the floor in the middle of the room and the dogs come up, eager for attention. Julie’s hot chocolate goes cold while she plays with the puppies. 

Eventually, her focus narrows to one specific dog. He looks kind of like a labrador retriever but with curlier hair. The staff at the dog cafe tell her that they don’t guarantee breed guesses, but that they think he’s a miniature labradoodle with possibly some golden retriever in there, too. Julie falls in love.

“He’s so cute. I want to keep him and cuddle with him forever!” she coos, rubbing the dog’s belly.

“What should his name be?” Luke asks.

“His name is Nugget and he’s perfect,” Julie says decisively.

“I’ll be right back,” Luke says, leaving the room.

Julie continues playing with Nugget, eventually switching from petting him to throwing a ball for him to chase and then playing tug-o-war with a dog toy. She doesn’t notice how long Luke’s been gone but when he returns, they curl up on a couch in the room, Nugget on Julie’s lap. Luke reaches an arm around Julie to scratch Nugget above his tail. The puppy wiggles his butt a little bit, nudging into Luke’s hand.

Eventually, the employee comes in to tell them that their time is up. Julie pouts, setting Nugget back on the ground. 

Luke frowns. “I’d have thought you’d want to carry him.”

“Carry him?” Julie repeats, confused.

“Yeah, I mean, we can put him on a leash to take him out to the car, but...”

“Luke, what did you do?”

“What?”

“Did you adopt the dog?” Julie’s voice is rising.

“Yeah? You said you wanted to keep him so I arranged it.” Luke doesn’t understand Julie’s shock.

“Luke, I was being... that’s just something people say!”

“So did I screw up? Do you not want to keep Nugget?”

“Well, it would have been a good idea to talk to me about it and... oh, my god, Papí’s gonna freak out, but I love this dog so we’re keeping him.”

Julie scoops Nugget back into her arms and they leave the dog cafe. Luke opens Julie’s door and shuts it once she’s inside. He goes around to sit in the driver’s seat, buckles himself in, and then takes Nugget so that Julie can buckle her seatbelt. She makes ‘gimme’ hands at him as soon as the seatbelt clicks into place. Luke chuckles but hands the dog back to her.

Luke puts on a radio station for the drive to the pet store because Julie’s too busy cooing over Nugget to play music. When they arrive, Luke helps Julie get out of the car without letting go of her puppy. They walk inside and Luke grabs a cart. Julie rushes over to the toys and lets Nugget sniff at different ones. They (technically Julie) decide that Nugget needs the purple unicorn, the pink duck, and several bones, before Luke drags them away to pick out essentials. They grab a crate, several doggie beds, bowls for food and water, a couple of different types of dog treats, and two big bags of dog food. Julie looks around at the leash area then decides that Nugget needs the collar that has a bowtie above where the dog tags go. Luke selects the leash with blue music notes on it and Julie grins.

“Perfect!” 

They take everything up to the checkout where Luke pays while Julie goes over to the machine to get a custom-engraved dog tag for Nugget. She gets a blue dog-bone-shaped tag engraved with his name on one side and her cell phone number on the back. 

Once Luke finishes paying for everything, Julie unpackages the collar and leash, assembling them with the tag and putting it on Nugget.

Luke smirks. “You actually set him down!”

“Yeah, he probably has to go potty. He can’t do that if I’m holding him!” 

Luke chuckles. “Technically...”

“Ew, no!”

True to Julie’s prediction, Nugget releases his bladder on a rock near where the car is parked.

* * *

When Ray and Carlos come home from Carlos’ baseball practice, Ray stops short in the doorway. Julie is sitting on the floor playing with a puppy he’s neve seen before. Luke is sitting on the couch taking pictures and videos. Carlos shouts in delight at the sight of a puppy and immediately runs over to play with him.

“Julie, whose dog is that?”

“Ours,” she says with feigned calm.

“Explain.”

Julie turns to Luke and raises an eyebrow.

“Wait, why do I have to explain?” He protests.

“Because this was all you, hon. Your mess, you clean it up.”

Luke groans. “Okay, so I took Julie on our first date today, right? So we went to a dog cafe where you can play with dogs and Julie met Nugget and fell in love with him and she said something about how she wanted to keep him and cuddle him forever so I went and adopted him for her so she wouldn’t have to leave him and here we are?”

Ray sighs. “Dios mio, Luke, did you even ask her if she was serious?”

“I asked her what his name should be?” Luke’s voice is hesitant but then he firmly adds. “But you can’t make her take him back. She loves Nugget.”

Carlos looks up, horrified. “Papí, please? Can we please keep him?”

Ray is suddenly accosted with four sets of puppy dog eyes (belonging to both of his kids, Luke, and the actual puppy). He sighs. He’s not strong enough to withstand the collective force of their pleading and the puppy _is_ cute.

“Fine. You can keep him but you guys are responsible for taking care of Nugget.”

[Nugget the Dog](https://knitsessed.tumblr.com/post/642929863073923073/okay-so-i-sent-netflix-this-picture-of-my)


	5. Liz Larson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liz Larson is based on actress Dove Cameron, and, coincidentally (no, it was totally on purpose) named after her character in Barely Lethal (which is both a terrible and awesome movie).

“Hey, Luke, what’s the deal with you and Liz Larson?” Julie asks as casually as she can the day after their date. 

She’s scrolling through the Instagram comments on the post Luke made showing off Nugget and is seeing a lot of comments like ‘Luke + Liz 4ever’ and ‘what are you doing, Luke? Get back together with Liz! #Luz.’ She’s also been tagged in posts where people are posting a clip from an old interview where Liz Larson is being asked about her relationship with Luke and whether they’ll ever date. Liz just smiled and said ‘never say never.’

Julie is fairly certain that Luke wouldn’t have asked her to be his girlfriend if he and his former co-star were together but she  _ has _ only known Luke for less than a week, so... She has to ask.

Luke groans, setting aside his laptop, which he’d been reading emails on. “Okay, so first of all, we’re just friends. We’ve never been anything more than friends, okay, boss? You don’t have to worry about that.” Julie stares at Luke, waiting. “So, you’ve seen Best of Both Worlds, right? Remember Lilly?” Julie nods. “Liz Larson played Lilly and because fans don’t always separate the actors from the characters, people decided that Liz and I should date because our characters did. We kept trying to explain that we weren’t a couple, but Liz’s team insisted that she just dodge the question because of some crap about her image, so people decided that that meant that we were together. We attended a few awards shows together, first because we were promoting BoBW and then because we realized they were way less boring with a friend. She’s like a sister to me, Jules. Please believe me?”

Julie sighs. “I do believe you.”

“What’s going through your head, sweetheart? You still seem upset.” Luke scoops Nugget up from his place on one of his dozen dog beds and plops him on Julie’s lap. She starts petting the pup, letting his silky fur sooth her.

“It just... It kind of really sucks to have people saying that they think my soulmate should be with someone else.” Julie avoids Luke’s gaze, staring intently at the puppy on her lap. “It makes me feel like I’m not good enough.”

Luke’s face crumples. “Oh, Jules, no... You’re absolutely good enough. You’re everything I need and the universe made you my soulmate for a reason. If I was supposed to be with Liz, I would have woken up in her bed, but I didn’t because she’s not who I need. I should absolutely be with you and I’m sorry my fans make you feel like you’re not utterly perfect exactly the way you are.”

“You’re sweet.” Julie scratches behind Nugget’s ears. “I’m just insecure and I don’t like feeling like this.”

“What can I do?”

Julie shrugs, still playing with the puppy in her lap and still not looking at Luke. “Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like you can make them stop saying that stuff. She probably can’t do anything either. It just sucks.”

“Julie, please look at me.” Julie slowly raises her gaze and immediately feels guilty. Luke looks really upset and worried and that hurts her heart. “I want to help. What do you need?”

“I-” she stops, considers her words, then resumes speaking. “I don’t feel like you want me.”

Luke’s eyes widen. “What? That’s- seriously? Of course I want you! You’re my soulmate!”

“But you haven’t even tried to kiss me and now everyone’s saying that you should be with Liz and you’ve kissed her and-” 

“Julie, I haven’t kissed you because I want you to be ready. I don’t want you to feel like that’s all I want you for. I’d  _ love _ to kiss you, boss. I- seriously? Of course I want to kiss you. Also,  _ I’ve _ never kissed Liz. My characters have kissed her character. You’re not an actor so maybe that’s why you don’t get the difference. When I’m acting, it’s not me. Like, it’s my body and my voice but, like, it doesn’t feel like me. When I put on the costume and start a scene, the person that I am is gone. I don’t think about what I want or how I feel, I fully take on the mindset of the person I’m playing. It’s almost like being possessed by a ghost. It’s not me in there doing the things my character is.” Luke wraps his arm around Julie’s shoulders and smiles slightly when she rests her head against him. “Does that help?”

Julie tilts her face up to look at him. “A little.” She hesitates. “Will you-”

“Will I... what?” Understanding hits then. “You want me to kiss you? You’re sure?”

“If you want to. You don’t have to.”

Luke takes Nugget from Julie, depositing him on the floor. He pulls her onto his lap. 

“This okay?” He confirms. Julie nods. “You mean so much to me, sweetheart. I don’t ever want you to doubt that you’re exactly who I want, okay?” Julie nods again. “I’m going to kiss you now.” He gently brushes his lips against Julie’s then pulls back slightly. “Was that okay?” 

Julie twines her fingers in his hair, pulling his face back to hers. They kiss again, this time a little bit firmer, a little bit longer. Luke relaxes when he feels Julie smile against his lips. They part again and he notes that while Julie still looks emotional, she no longer looks upset.

“Thank you.”

“Thank  _ you, _ Jules. That was... I could become addicted to your kisses so easily.”

Julie grins, then tilts her head in thought. “I was kissing  _ you, _ right? Not Charlie or Edward or...”

Luke chuckles. “You were absolutely kissing me. You’re never going to kiss one of my characters. It’ll always be me.”

Julie pecks another kiss to Luke’s lips. “Good. I want to kiss my boyfriend, not someone else.”

“Good, because I want to kiss my beautiful girlfriend, who is also my incredible soulmate, not someone else, and if she wanted to kiss someone else, we’d have a problem.”

Julie smiles, resting her head on Luke’s shoulder. “Glad we’re in agreement.”

Luke picks the TV remote up from the end table next to them. “Want to watch something?”

“Sure. Any ideas?”

“Nothing I’m in,” Luke says immediately. 

Julie chuckles. “You don’t like to watch yourself act. Noted.”

Luke sighs. “It’s not even that. It’s just, like, I don’t want to watch something I’m in  _ with you. _ I don’t think I’m in anything that doesn’t involve me kissing someone and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Julie lifts her head to kiss Luke softly. “I think I’d be okay,” she says as she pulls away. “I think the reason it bothers me with Liz is that people ship you guys. They don’t do that with your other love interests, at least not as much, so I’m pretty sure it would be okay.”

Something occurs to Luke then. “Do you want to meet her?”

Julie frowns. “Meet- Liz? Why?”

“Because I think seeing our dynamic would help you.” Julie’s brow furrows at that. “I told you she’s like a sister to me, right? Ask anyone that’s spent any amount of time around us when we’re goofing off and they’ll tell you that they can’t see us as a couple.” Luke grins. “Plus, ever since I told her about you, she’s been dying to meet you. Something about giving you the ‘you hurt my brother, I end you’ speech?”

“Okay.”

“Today? We can go over to her place or she can come here or we can meet somewhere entirely separate. Alex and Reggie’s?”

“Not here, because then if I need to we can just leave.”

“Let’s all go to Alex and Reggie’s. You can meet Alina and Willie, too.”

Luke starts texting, first sending a message asking Liz to go to Alex and Reggie’s, then telling the guys that they were all coming. His phone buzzes with a thumbs up emoji (from Reggie), a  **‘sounds good’** (from Alex) and, from Liz,  **finally! Tell your girl I can’t wait to meet her.** The phone buzzes one more time, Liz asking Luke to bring Nugget, too.

Julie distracts herself from her nerves by getting Nugget ready to go. She sends Luke up to her room to grab an old purse (a little backpack-style thing) while she fills a plastic baggie with some dog food and another with some treats. She gathers a couple of toys, making sure to include a ball for when Reggie inevitably decides to play fetch with Nugget. She loads them all into the bag Luke returns with, adds the collapsable bowls they’d gotten at the pet store, and sticks one of the rolls of biodegradable poop bags into the front pocket. Luke looks on, extremely confused. They’re just going to the guys’ house. Why do they need so much stuff? 

Julie, Luke, and Nugget load into the car. Julie spends the entire drive petting the squirming puppy in her lap and when they pull into the driveway of what Julie assumes is Alex and Reggie’s house, Luke takes Julie’s hand, squeezing it gently. Julie finally meets his eyes and he smiles softly at her.

“You have nothing to worry about, okay, Jules? She’s gonna love you and she is in no way a threat to you or to us. We can leave whenever you want, okay?”

Julie takes a deep breath, then nods. “I got this.”

Luke grins. “You absolutely do.”

He comes around to open the door for Julie, helping her juggle the dog, the leash, and the dog travel bag. Once she’s out of the car and Nugget is on the ground, Julie swings the backpack over her shoulder and takes Luke’s hand in her free one. 

When they get inside, they see a pretty blonde girl pacing in front of the couch Alex and Reggie are sitting on.

Luke chuckles. “Channeling your inner Alex, Liz?”

Liz stops pacing and turns to face them. She smiles at Julie, about to introduce herself, but she notices Nugget first and gets distracted.

“Oh, my god, that dog is so much cuter in real life! I didn’t think it’d be possible given how cute those pictures on Insta were but... Can I pet him?”

Julie crouches down to unclip Nugget’s leash and he runs circles around the room, Liz chasing him. Julie chuckles.

“His name is Nugget.” 

Luke is abandoned near the door as Julie starts trying to herd Nugget towards Liz and then the two girls are sitting on the floor across from each other, the puppy sitting in the space between them. Julie pulls a miniature tennis ball out of her backpack and bounces it towards Liz. Nugget chases the ball but by the time he gets near it, Liz is throwing it back towards Julie.

“Oh, my god, you guys, your dog is so cute.” Liz squeals.

“I know! I was a little bit mad at Luke because he adopted Nugget for me without asking but then I thought about it and was like, no way could I have left this little cutie behind.” Julie catches the ball and bounces it back towards Liz. “I’m Julie, by the way.”

Liz nods sagely. “Luke’s soulmate, right?” She sends the ball back towards Julie, Nugget still chasing it. “I’m Liz. I’m sure he told you this but we’re totally not a couple.” She pauses, thinking about that. “Actually, knowing Luke, he might not have thought to tell you that.”

Julie chuckles. “He didn’t tell me until I asked him after seeing the comments on Insta.”

“He’s such a disaster, right?” Julie and Liz dissolve into a fit of giggles.

Luke watches in confusion, then turns to Alex and Reggie. “What... just happened?”

This just makes the girls on the floor laugh harder.

“Okay, so I’ve known Luke since we were like fourteen and I’ve spent a ton of time on set with him so I’ve got some embarrassing stories I’ve been saving to tell his soulmate. Wanna hear them?” Liz asks.

Julie’s eyes widen. “Oh, my god, yes, please!”

“Okay, the first one I’ve got is about our audition. So they had us audition separately but also they were already planning to have our characters end up together so they did what’s called a Chemistry Reading. Basically the point of it is to see if two people can act like a couple believably. They had us read-” Liz notices Luke standing behind Julie, gesturing at her to stop talking. “Luke, I’m telling this story whether you like it or not. So they had us read a scene from later in the first season where Lilly and Luke kiss for the first time and when they told us that they wanted us to kiss, Luke started freaking out. It was... not pretty. Kenny, he was our director, asked him if he wanted some gum and he said yes, but Kenny was joking. I swear, Luke was so uncomfortable.”

“Julie, I swear, I didn’t have a crush on Liz. I was just like ‘you want me to kiss a pretty girl I literally just met?’ It had nothing to do with wanting to be with Liz but I was just overwhelmed because have you seen her?”

Julie sighs. “Luke, what’s the first rule of holes?”

Luke looks confused. “What?”

“The first rule of holes is 'when you’re in too deep, stop digging.’”

Liz bursts out laughing. “I’m gonna steal that. Honestly, though, Julie, he looked like he was going to be sick and I almost died laughing.”

Julie starts laughing, too. “He’s kind of a disaster, isn’t he?”

Liz raises an eyebrow. “Kind of?”

“Guys, I’m right here!”

Liz sighs. “Okay, do you want to tell an embarrassing story about me? Would that make you feel better?”

Luke nods. “Yes, yes, it would. Okay, so we were invited to the Golden Globes for reasons that remain unclear to me. Like, who thought it was a good idea to invite a couple of goofy fifteen-year-olds to a major awards show?” Alex clears his throat. “Okay, right, the story. So we went together because we were supposed to be promoting BoBW and, uh, we were about to get out of the limo and walk the red carpet and they tell us to wait because, like, there’s something happening. So Liz rolls down the limo window to see what’s happening and it’s literally Meryl Streep walking down the red carpet in front of us. Liz, here, decides to take out her phone and start taking a  _ video _ from the car.”

Liz groans. “In my defense, I was starstruck! I also still have the video.”

Liz and Luke continue trading embarrassing stories about each other and making jokes at each other’s expense. When Julie and Luke finally leave, Julie grins at Luke.  
“I get it. You guys act just like me and Flynn. When Carrie and Flynn first got together, I totally told embarrassing stories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liz and Luke's stories about each other come from Dove's Seventeen Emoji Challenge video.


	6. Filming

Luke had gotten permission to bring Julie to set to watch him film Eclipse. Unfortunately, he failed to consider what scene they were scheduled to do that day. He frowns as he rereads the script for the day.

“Jules, maybe you shouldn’t have come.”

“What? Why? I want to be here.” Luke passes her his script in lieu of an answer. He can tell exactly when she gets to the part that he’s worried about. Her eyes widen.

“Is your script really telling you to ‘make out’ with someone?” Luke’s surprised to hear Julie chuckle. “Like, they don’t have a fancier way to word that?”

“You’re not mad?”

Julie sighs. “Luke, I’d be furious if I thought you were kissing her because you wanted to, but, like, the script literally says ‘make out with her’ so it’s pretty clear that you’re just doing your job. Am I going to enjoy watching that? No, it’s probably gonna suck. Am I going to be mad at you? Also no.”

Luke hugs Julie close. “You’re amazing.” He pulls back, looking her in the eye. “You know you don’t have to watch, right?”

Julie nods. “I know. I think if I don’t watch, though, I’ll build it up in my head as a bigger deal than it actually is? Does that make any sense?”

Alex comes up and wraps an arm around Julie’s shoulders. “Luke, go film your scene. I’ve got her.”

Julie huffs. “You guys, I’m gonna be fine!”

Luke steps back up and takes Julie’s hands. “If you need to leave, go sit in my trailer, okay? Alex, I’m trusting you to make sure she’ll be okay. Don’t let me down, man, okay?” Luke leads Julie over to his chair. Julie grins at the sight of it. 

“You get a fancy chair with your name on it?”

“Duh, I’m the lead.” Luke pushes on Julie’s shoulders gently, getting her to sit down.

Alex drags Willie’s chair over and sits down next to Julie. “We’re good, Luke. Go do your job.”

Luke puts his hands up defensively. “Okay, okay!”

He walks over to talk to someone, then adjusts the sleeves on the button-down shirt he’s wearing. He and Bridget Sullivan, the actress playing Bella, sit on the foot of the bed in the bedroom set and someone yells action. Julie can actually see a change in Luke’s eyes and posture when the scene starts. He leans in to Bridget and they start making out intently. 

Julie is pleasantly surprised to find herself not actually upset. Her soulmate  _ is _ kissing someone else, but he’s not kissing Bridget like he kisses Julie. She can’t put her finger on what, exactly, is different, but something is and it makes it not terrible. She can somehow sense the emotional detachment because she knows what Luke is like when he’s kissing someone he does care about. Luke’s a good actor. If she didn’t know him so well, she wouldn’t know he was acting, but she knows his kiss and this isn’t right. Even when Bridget starts unbuttoning Luke’s shirt, Julie doesn’t feel the need to look away.

Alex taps her hand, so Julie glances at him. He mouths, ‘you good?’ and Julie nods, turning back to watch the scene. 

It’s not the kissing that ends up upsetting Julie. It’s Luke’s- Edward’s- proposal that does it. Luke pulls out a ring from his pocket and Julie has to look away. She can still hear, though, so she gets up and leaves the set. Alex chases after her but she doesn’t acknowledge him until they’re in the safety of Luke’s trailer.

Julie curls up on the couch in the trailer, burying her face in her knees. Alex sits down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. She leans into his side, slipping down until her head rests in Alex’s lap.

“Julie, what happened?” Julie shakes her head. “He wasn’t kissing her when you left. What was- oh. Oh, Jules, you know he wasn’t- he doesn’t actually want to marry Bridget. He’d much rather be proposing to you, you know that, right?”

Julie just sobs harder and then the door to the trailer is banging open and Luke’s there, having finished the scene. “Oh, Jules. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you here. I knew this was a bad idea.”

Julie doesn’t say anything so Luke turns to Alex for help.

“It wasn’t the kissing, man.” Alex sighs. “Seriously? Dude, you brought your girlfriend to watch the scene where your character  _ proposes. _ ”

Luke winces. Turning back to Julie, he reaches out to touch her shoulder then pauses. “Jules, can I hug you?”

Julie shakes her head. She knows she’s being irrational, that Luke was just acting, but she doesn’t want him to touch her right now. Her breathing stutters, Alex’s jeans damp under her cheek from her tears.

“Julie, please. What can I do?” Julie can hear the desperation in Luke’s voice. “How can I make you feel better?”

“You didn’t kiss her like you kiss me,” Julie finally explains. “I can separate the acting because it’s different from how I know you do it when emotions are involved.”

“... but you don’t know how I’d propose to you so you can’t separate that.” Luke frowns. “Okay, I get that. We’re not ready, though. I don’t want to propose to you until you’re ready to say yes and we’re not there yet.”

“I know,” Julie says quietly. “It still hurt to watch.”

“I’m so sorry, boss. I never want to hurt you.” He sighs. “I have to go keep filming- they want another take- but I’ll come back as soon as I can, okay?” Julie nods, still not looking at Luke.

Alex looks at Luke like he’s grown another head. “You’re just gonna leave?”

Luke frowns. “I have to. It’s important”

Alex tries to distract Julie, texting Willie to come to the trailer because if Luke’s filming that scene again, Willie’s not filming. Willie, still in his Jacob Black wig (he’d refused to cut his hair for the role so they stuck a short-haired wig on him), and Alex sit with Julie, telling her stories about screaming in museums and showing her videos of Alex on his drums and Willie skateboarding. 

After about half an hour, Luke returns, now dressed in his own clothes and holding a little green packet. He rips open the plastic and pulls out- Alex bursts out laughing, coaxing Julie to sit up. 

Julie wipes her eyes dry with the tissue Alex hands her and once the tissue is out of the way, she gasps. Luke is on one knee in front of her, holding up a ring pop.

“Jules, we’re not ready for this to be a real proposal, but I need you to know how much you mean to me. You’re my world, boss, and I need you to know that whenever I do propose for real, it’s gonna be to you, okay? I know I can be an idiot and that I shouldn’t have brought you today but I never meant to hurt you. Will you forgive me?”

Julie smiles at him, holding out her hand. “That depends. What flavor did you bring me?”

“Watermelon, duh.” He slips the ring pop onto her finger where, someday, a wedding ring will sit. “Are we okay?”

Julie licks her new ring, then nods. “We’re good.”


	7. Dinner Date Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: depiction of a panic attack in this chapter.

When Ray found out that Luke planned to take Julie on another date, he sat them down to have a serious conversation.

“Okay, mijos, I want you to have fun and go on dates together but I need you to promise me that you won’t be coming back with any more animals. Like, I love Nugget. He’s a great dog, but no more, okay?”

Julie grins. “We promise. Right, Luke?”

Luke nods, looking embarrassed. Adopting Nugget for Julie had seemed like a good idea in the moment but he’s since come to realize that it was a stupid, impulsive decision that he’s lucky worked out as well as it did.

“We’re just getting dinner, Ray. We might bring home leftovers, but that’s okay, right?”

Ray chuckles. “That’s okay. Where are you going?”

“We’re picking up takeout and then taking it on a picnic.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.” Ray stands up, clapping his hands together. “Well, I won’t keep you guys. Have fun!”

Luke and Julie load into his car and make a stop at a little, hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant to get their dinner. They head over to a little park that doesn’t normally have very many people in it and set up on the grass under a tree. They’re almost done eating when half a dozen cars pull up, depositing a vast amount of people. They appear to be high school students and it looks like they’re setting up for an ultimate frisbee tournament.

Luke sighs. “Do you want to go somewhere else before I get recognized?”

“No, they seem busy. We’ll be fine.” 

They keep talking and eating, feeding each other the occasional bite of their meals. Eventually, Julie gets up to toss out the garbage and when she gets back, they strike.

“Luke!” Several voices yell. “Luke, is this your girlfriend?”

The paparazzi take pictures, the flashes blinding. Julie feels her heart speed up and she begins to panic. There’s so much happening, so many people yelling and taking photos and she just wants some space. She was having fun with Luke. Why do these people need to invade their date?

Luke is standing, now, yelling at the paparazzi to back off, to give them some space and Julie just wants him to hold her and tell her that everything will be okay. She starts shaking and when one of the photographers notices, he broadcasts it.

“Is she having a seizure?” This scares the photographers enough that most of them run, trying to avoid a potential lawsuit.

Luke crouches down in front of Julie. “Jules, are you okay? Stupid question, clearly you’re not. What can I do to help you?”

He notices some similarities between Julie’s behavior now and Alex’s during a panic attack and freaks out.

“Jules, are you having a panic attack?” Julie barely manages a nod, but Luke sees it and groans. “I don’t know what to do!” Then it occurs to him that Alex might.

Luke’s dialing his phone and cursing how long it takes Alex to answer but when he does, Luke starts rambling. “Alex, Julie’s having a panic attack! What do I do? How do I help her?”

**“I don’t know! I have panic attacks, I don’t help people through them.”** Alex sighs.  **“I’m gonna get Willie.”**

Then Willie’s on the other end, soothing Luke.  **“Okay, so I can tell you what I do for Alex but it might not help Julie. Everyone’s different.”**

“Anything, Willie. I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

**“Are you touching her in any way?”**

“No? Should I be?”

**“Alex likes to squeeze my hand when he gets an attack. Hold out your hand but wait for her to initiate contact.”** Luke follows Willie’s instructions and sighs in relief when Julie grabs his hand.

“Okay, she grabbed my hand. Now what?”

**“How is she reacting when you talk?”**

“I mean, she’s shaking constantly but I guess it’s a little bit less violent when I’m talking?”

**“Okay, so you’re going to want to talk to her then.”**

“About what?” Luke asks, worried. 

**“I honestly don’t think it matters. Alex doesn’t generally retain much of anything I say when he’s panicking, so just talk. It honestly probably doesn’t even have to be English, man. Oh, but, like, nothing that you know upsets her.”**

“Will you stay on the phone until she’s okay again?” Luke feels like a little kid asking his mom to stay until he falls asleep but he needs the support, so he asks anyway.

**“Of course.”**

Luke sets the phone down and starts talking. He rambles about funny stories from set, what it was like growing up as an actor, anything and everything he can think of. Eventually, Julie tugs on his hand to pull him closer, then climbs into his lap. Luke wraps his arms around her and presses a kiss to her hair. She’s still shaking, though, and doesn’t respond when he addresses her, so he keeps talking. He tells her about how he wants to get into music, wants to be a rockstar. He talks about how much he hates the music he had to play for BoBW and how he really wants to quit acting.

He sighs in relief when the shaking stops and Julie lifts her head to look at him. “You with me again?” He frowns when she doesn’t say anything, only taps her mouth and shakes her head. “You can’t talk?” She tilts her head from side to side. “Okay, I’m gonna ask Willie a question, okay?”

Luke picks his phone back up and addresses Willie. “So, she stopped shaking but now she’s having a hard time talking. What do I do?”

**“Oh, so she’s one of the nonverbal ones, huh?”**

“What does that mean?”

**“Okay, so when Alex has a panic attack, he becomes semi-nonverbal for a while after. He explains it like he can talk but it takes a ton of effort. Julie’s probably really tired and formulating words is too much right now. Take her home and let her rest. She’ll talk when she’s ready. You good?”**

“I think so. Thank you so much, Willie. I had no idea what to do!”

**“It’s hard, isn’t it? Watching someone you care about suffer like that?”**

“Yeah. I’m gonna get her home. I’ll call you later?”

They say their goodbyes and then Luke asks Julie if she can stand up. She does, but she’s a little bit wobbly, so Luke wraps an arm around her. He lets her lean on him as they walk back to the car. Once she’s buckled into her seat, she leans her head back and shuts her eyes.

As soon as they get back to the house, Luke is carrying her inside, yelling for Ray, who comes running, concerned.

“What happened?” Ray asks.

“Paparazzi.” Luke frowns. “She had a panic attack.”

Ray sighs. “Mija, can you talk yet?” Julie shakes her head. “Okay, how about you guys go up to your room and cuddle in bed?”

Luke carries Julie up to her room, Ray following them. Once Luke has set Julie down on the bed, Ray asks him to step into the hallway with him. Ray opens the hall closet and pulls out a gray blanket. 

“This is a weighted blanket. I don’t really understand the science behind it, but it can help soothe Julie when she’s like this. Tuck her in under it and lay with her. That should help a bit. Come get me if you guys need anything and when Julie’s doing better, I’m going to teach you everything I know about how to help her when she has an attack.” Ray passes Luke the blanket and sends him back to Julie.

Julie, lying on her side on the bed, has her eyes shut, so Luke announces his presence. “Hey, boss. I’m back. Your dad gave me this blanket for you. Do you want it?”

Julie lifts her head, looking at the blanket in question, then nods. Luke drapes it over her, watching as she adjusts it. He frowns when she lifts the side, holding it up as though waiting for him to slip under it.

“You want me to join you?” He clarifies. Julie raises an eyebrow expectantly, so Luke climbs into bed, sliding into place next to Julie under the blanket. “Is this helping?”

Julie tugs Luke flush against her, wrapping her arm around his torso and resting her head on his shoulder. He looks down at her expectantly. She nods, cheek rubbing against the fabric of his hoodie.

“You don’t have to talk if you can’t or aren’t ready to, but do you want me to talk?” Julie nods again, so Luke continues talking about the music thing from earlier. “I want to make real music, have a connection with people that stems from me, not a character.” He sighs. “It’s probably never gonna happen, though. I’ve been type-cast. No one wants to make a guy who has millions of preteen girls fawning all over him into a rockstar. Something about being a bad influence?”

Julie snuggles up against Luke as he talks, eventually drifting off to sleep. When she wakes up a few hours later, she can talk again and helps Ray explain what to do when she has a panic attack. Apparently, it had been years since the last one and that’s why they hadn’t warned Luke about the potential for one. Luke knows now, though, and he knows what to do, so he feels more equipped to be what Julie needs, which is one positive from the whole ordeal.


	8. Voice Like a Wrecking Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used in this chapter is Loved by Lucy Hale.

Luke and Julie had gone over to Alex and Reggie’s because Luke was in a bad mood and they were hoping jamming out would help him. Julie curls up on the couch in the garage when they get there, watching as Luke pulls his guitar from its case. He joins Alex and Reggie, riffing on their instruments and feeding off of each other. 

After a few minutes, Luke is smiling again, so Julie feels like she can stop watching and worrying. She pulls her song book and a pen from her bag and flips to the song she’d been working on. Luke, Alex, and Reggie segue into playing an actual song, but Julie is completely caught up in her writing at that point.

Luke notices that Julie isn’t paying attention when he hears her humming while he and the guys take a water break. The song she’s humming isn’t anything they’ve just been playing, nor is it anything he’s heard her listen to lately, so... what is it?

He plops down next to his soulmate on the couch. “Whatcha humming?”

“Hm?” Julie doesn’t look up from her page. “Oh, nothing. Just something I’m working on.”

She chews on the end of her pen, then scratches something out on her page. “‘You don’t have to be a modern-day Shakespeare/You don’t have to be anything you’re not/ You don’t have to give me diamonds to impress me/Just give me your heart/ Make me feel loved, make me feel beautiful/ Make me feel dance around the room/Cinderella kind of magical/Make me believe I'm all that you'll ever need/Hold me close and make me feel/A million kinds of wonderful/Baby, your touch, it's more than enough/Make me feel loved...’”

Luke’s jaw drops. He’s not sure whether to be more amazed at the song or at Julie’s voice. Looking over at Alex and Reggie, he sees that they’re awestruck, too.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Julie asks, finally looking up.

“How did I not know you can sing like that?”

“Luke, you were at my graduation. I have no idea how you didn’t know I can sing.” Luke looks confused. “Seriously? I graduated from the music program at the best performing arts high school on the west coast.”

“Can I hear the rest of that song?” Luke deflects, slightly embarrassed. He’d been so excited to see Julie graduate but he’d gotten mobbed before he was even in the building, so in all the chaos, he somehow missed what kind of school it was.

Julie chuckles. “Sure. It’s not done, though. The lyrics are about as good as they’re gonna get but I don’t have any instrumentals yet.” She pauses. “Can I use that keyboard?”

“Yeah, of course!” Reggie, whose keyboard it is, grins. “I’m pretty sure Luke would murder me if I said no.”

Julie gets up from the couch and moves to the piano. She stretches her fingers out then plays a single note before stopping. She looks up at Luke, who grins.

“You got this, Jules!”

Julie starts whistling along with some improvised piano and then swaps the whistling for singing. With the piano, the song is even better. Luke seriously can’t believe how insanely talented Julie is.

“Well?” Julie asks after she finishes.

“Holy shit.” Luke knows he already said that but, like, he doesn’t have words for how amazing Julie is. “I think I’m in love.”

He claps a hand over his mouth as Alex and Reggie burst out laughing. 

“Smooth, man,” Reggie jokes.

Alex looks back and forth between Julie, who’s gaping at Luke, and Luke, who looks like he wants to disappear, and decides he does not want to be there for this conversation. “I’m gonna go refill my water bottle. Reggie, come with?”

Reggie follows Alex out of the garage and into the house. Once they’re gone, Julie turns back to Luke.

“Did you mean it?” Julie asks.

“Yeah. I love you, Julie. You don’t- you don’t have to say it back or anything. I mean, you probably don’t-”

Luke is interrupted by Julie laughing. “Luke, seriously? I just sang a love song I wrote about you and you seriously don’t think I love you back?”

Luke stumbles back a step in shock. “You- really?”

Julie sobers, getting up from the stool behind the keyboard. She carefully approaches Luke, like he’s a wild animal and she’s afraid he’ll bolt.

“Yes, of course. I love you, Luke. Why are you so surprised?”

“You’re  _ Julie Molina. _ You’re way out of my league!”

Julie starts laughing again. “Coming from a literal movie star? You were number one on Glamour Magazine’s 50 Sexiest Men this year! How am  _ I _ out of your league?”

“Who told you that? Was it Alex?”

“It was actually Carrie, but that’s not the point. If one of us is out of the other’s league, it’s you. You’re way out of my league.”

“I am not! You’re way cooler than I am!”

“How about we just agree that we’re both great and change the subject?” Julie has something she’s been wanting to talk to Luke about since the day she had her panic attack and now, while she’s got him alone and in a good mood, seems like an optimal time.

“Sure.” Luke pauses. “Can I kiss you first?”

Julie nods and Luke pulls her into his arms. “You’re amazing, Jules.” He presses a soft kiss to her lips and sighs happily against them.

“I wanted to talk to you about something you said when I was having my panic attack.”

“You were listening?” Luke asks, surprised.

“Sort of. Mostly just to the sound of your voice but I caught something about how you hate acting and want to be a rockstar? Why don’t you quit?”

“It’s not that easy. I’m contractually obligated to film the rest of the Twilight movies and by the time those are done, I’ll probably have gotten roped into another movie or a show or something.”

“Well, can’t you make music in between filming? Like, start recording an album in between movies and once the Twilight movies are over, you could release it and go on tour?”

“My team is worried that I’ll have a hard time changing my sound from the BoBW music to the kind of music I actually want to make. Mom thinks that I’ll fail miserably and by the time I give up, I’ll have lost my fanbase and won’t be able to go back to acting.”

“Okay, I get that, but it’s your life, right? Luke, from what I understand, you have enough money to never have to work another day in your life. If you tank your acting career while you try to break into music, well, are you really losing anything you value?” Julie frowns. “I heard you playing with the guys just now. You’re really good, Luke, and you obviously love it. I think you should give it a try.”

“C’mere.” Luke wraps Julie up in a hug, pulling her down onto his lap on the couch. “You’re really sweet, but it’s not that easy. I’d need a really good reason to take to the public to get them to accept me quitting acting.”

“Can I be your reason?”

Luke’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if I start a band, you’d obviously want to support me and would join as lead guitar to help me. You’d have to come with me on tour, anyway, so it would make sense.”

Luke grins. “You’re a genius, Jules. You’d really do that for me?”

“It’s for me, too, you dork. I want to make music and I want to do it with you.”

“Okay, well, we’ll need a drummer and probably another guitar, maybe a bass. Do you know anyone?”

Julie laughs. “I think  _ you _ know some very qualified individuals.” She tilts her head towards the doorway where Alex and Reggie are standing. “What do you say, guys? Wanna join our band?”

Reggie bounces over. “Hell yeah!”

Alex grins. “I’m in, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke's award for Sexiest Man comes from Robert Pattinson winning that in 2009. Luke plays Edward Cullen and so does RPatz so I decided that the award transfers.


	9. The Press Junket

Luke and Willie had finally finished filming Eclipse. They now have the pleasure (if they’re being filmed) or torture (if they’re being honest) of going on a press junket to promote the movie. They’re hitting dozens of cities across the world, spending a day or two in each city to sit for several interviews.

Their first show on the press junket is  _ LA Tonight _ and Julie, who wanted to see what it’s like behind the scenes of a talk show, has come with Luke. She’s sitting in the dressing room Luke and Willie had been assigned, watching on the screen in there as the guys sit down for their interview.

“Hello, hello!” Host Cadence Carter greats Luke and Willie. “So, here tonight, we have the rivals for the heart of the Twilight Saga’s leading lady, Bella Swan. Luke, you play the vampire Edward Cullen, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Luke grins. It probably looks real to everyone who doesn’t know him, but Julie can see the irritation in his eyes. He  _ really _ hates playing Edward.

“And, Willie, you play Jacob Black, the werewolf? 

Willie nods. “Yeah. Jacob is constantly trying to win over Bella, played by Bridget Sullivan.”

“And does he succeed?” Cadence asks.

“Well, you’ll just have to watch the movie to find out!”

“Edward and Jacob are enemies, but in real life, the two of you are actually good friends, right?”

Luke nods. “Yeah, Willie’s soulmate, Alex, has been one of my best friends since we were in kindergarten, but I actually met Willie on the set of Best of Both Worlds, where I played both Luke and Charlie and he played Oliver.”

“Right, you were both Disney stars way back when. How does it feel being part of yet another production that has a cult-like following?”

“Honestly? It’s kinda weird.” Willie jokes. “I blame Luke. He must be doing something to get our viewers hooked.”

Luke elbows Willie. “How do you know it’s not you?”

Willie raises an eyebrow. “Have you seen yourself?”

Luke flushes slightly. “Yeah, well, I have it on good authority that you’re hot.”

“Whose authority?” Willie looks surprised.

“Alex’s, duh!”

“You’re both very attractive young men,” Cadence interjects. “So, we’ve established that Willie has a soulmate and is therefore unavailable, but Luke, what is your relationship status?”

Luke’s brow furrows. “Happily in love with my soulmate.”

“Right, I do remember hearing about that. As I understand it, many of your fans were disappointed to find out that you were not in a relationship with your Best of Both Worlds co-star Liz Larson. How does your soulmate feel about this drama?”

“She and Liz have actually become friends. Julie’s the kind of person that you can’t meet and not want to know better.”

“Is Julie coming with you on the remainder of the press junket?”

“Of course. We’re soulmates, she has to come. She’s actually here today.”

Cadence’s eyes light up. “Can we bring her out here to ask her some questions?”

Luke frowns. “We’re here to promote Eclipse, not talk about my love life.”

“Yes, but I’m sure your fans would love to get to know your Julie.” Cadence turns to the crowd. “Well? Should we bring Julie out here?”

The audience cheers loudly, so Luke sighs. “I can ask her, but if she doesn’t want to be interviewed, I’m not going to make her.”

Luke gets up from the couch and heads backstage, walking towards the dressing room he’d left Julie in. A camera follows him as he goes. Julie, having seen the request for her presence onstage, steps out of the dressing room. The cameraman pauses at the end of the hallway, filming from a distance. Julie bites her lip when Luke reaches her. He takes her hands and smiles reassuringly at her.

“Luke...”

“You don’t have to do this, boss. I won’t be mad.”

“But it’ll look bad for you if I don’t, right?” Luke hesitates. “Be honest.”

“It- yeah, it’d look like we had something to hide. Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. I can handle this.”

Julie shakes her head. “I’ll do it. Will you hold my hand?”

Luke presses a kiss to Julie’s forehead. “Always.”

Luke leads Julie back onto the stage and settles down with her on the couch. Julie snuggles into his side, his arm around her shoulders.

“So, this is Julie?” Cadence confirms.

“Yeah, I’m Julie.”

“I imagine it was quite the surprise to wake up with Luke on your birthday. Are you a fan?”

Julie looks at Luke. “Is it bad if I answer that honestly?”

Luke smirks at her. “I mean, your reason is legitimate, so...”

Julie turns back to the host. “Um, honestly? I was kind of sick of watching his productions. My best friend is a huge fan and she always wanted to watch something with Luke in it. I’ve probably seen every episode of BoBW five times. Every movie night, every binge-watching session, Carrie’s vote was always for something with Luke.” Julie sighs. “Like, he’s super talented and his stuff is really good, but, like, when you’ve watched Twilight at your weekly movie night for five months straight, you sort of start hating it.”

“I’d imagine that would happen with anything. Why just Twilight?” Cadence asks.

“Because this was when it was the only one released. When New Moon came out, we started watching that one for a while, then alternating.”

“So what’s it like being soulmates with a famous actor?”

Julie frowns. “Am I supposed to be answering these questions honestly?” She huffs. “It’s honestly not as fun as you think. Like, on our second date, we had a picnic at the park and then we got mobbed by the paparazzi and I had a panic attack. There’s lots of parts of dating a movie star that kind of suck, but it’s all worth it to be with him.”

Willie chuckles. “Luke actually called me when Julie had her attack.”

“No, I called Alex, who gave the phone to you.”

Willie rolls his eyes. “Semantics. Alex, my soulmate, has anxiety, so I have a lot of experience with helping someone having a panic attack. I ended up telling Luke what to do to help Julie and I think it turned out okay, right?”

Julie contemplates that. “I mean, it went about as well as I could have expected it to, and now he knows what to do, so...” Julie trails off. “Anyway, aren’t you guys meant to be talking about the movie?”

The conversation turns to the movie and then the show wraps, which makes Julie sigh in relief. They return to the dressing room where Julie breaks down.

Luke wraps an arm around her and leads her over to the sofa. “Hey, Jules, what’s going on?” Julie just buries her face in his shirt, shaking violently. “Is this an attack?” Luke can feel her head move slightly against him as she nods. “Okay, okay. You’re going to be fine. Willie, can you shut the door?”

“Sure,” Willie says. “Do you want me to leave?”

“Doesn’t matter. I just don’t want strangers staring at her. Jules, do you want me to sing for you?” Julie nods again, so Luke starts singing a song he’d been wanting to play for her, something he’d written especially for her. “‘What would I do without your smart mouth?/Drawing me in, and you kicking me out/You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down/What's going on in that beautiful mind/I'm on your magical mystery ride/And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright...’”

Slowly, Julie settles. When she stops shaking and lifts her head, Luke grins down at her. “You with me?” Julie nods. “Can I ask you some questions?” Luke asks. Julie taps her mouth. “Right, you can’t talk. Um, squeeze my hand once for yes, twice for no, three times if you want me to rephrase the question. Sound good?” 

Julie squeezes his hand once. “Okay, are you feeling better now?” One squeeze. “Are you tired?” One squeeze. “Was being interviewed the trigger?” 

Three squeezes. Luke contemplates that. “Okay, um, did Cadence make you uncomfortable?” Two squeezes. “Was it the audience?” Two squeezes. “The cameras?” One squeeze. “The cameras. Okay, we’re not going to be bringing you into my interviews anymore, then. Do you want to go home?” One squeeze.

Luke helps Julie up from the couch, grabbing her purse with his free hand. Willie offers to grab Luke’s backpack and the three of them leave the TV studio. Willie drives Luke and Julie home in Luke’s car, saying that he’ll get Alex to help get his own car back from the studio. 

Luke wraps his arm around Julie as he leads her into the house. He calls for Ray, figuring that he would want to know about his daughter’s attack. Ray sighs sadly when he arrives at Julie’s bedroom to see Luke carefully tucking her in under her weighted blanket.

“Another attack?”

“Yeah, we were at my interview and Cadence Carter wanted to ask Julie a few questions. I guess all the cameras overwhelmed her?”

“You got her?”

“Yeah, I just thought you should know.” Luke toes his shoes off, then climbs into bed next to Julie. He slides under the blanket, wrapping his arms around his soulmate. “We’re good, Ray.”

Ray nods, shutting the door on the way out. They are good. Luke’s got her.


End file.
